Little Things
by the sleepyhead
Summary: Mike would make a great dad, everyone's jamming to a song on the radio, Leo practically buries himself in a book and April witnesses the most adorable thing to ever happen. More to come (hopefully)! A bunch of random drabbles based on the small things in life that we don't give much of a thought to.
1. Chapter 1

Alright, so this is going to be a drabble set. Is that what it's called – a series of drabbles? Whatever, you get what I mean. So the idea basically came after I downloaded this app called **Little Things**. It's kind of a random list of the small things in life that we really don't pay all that much attention to. Something like little things to be happy about. Stuff like that. And each drabble will be based on a different, er, thing. Hell, I really suck at summaries okay? Check out the app if you'd like, might make things clearer. Or you can just go on with the drabbles, yknow.

I'm rambling. Here's to the new year! Hope you guys have a good one :D

**Disclaimer: TMNT is and will never be mine :(**

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_640. When a baby smiles at you_

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"Shit, shit, shit!"

Mikey jumped the last few steps of the fourth level of the fire escape, panicking for a good two seconds before frantically sliding the window to his left wide open and leaping into the dim room. He pushed it back down, just in time to throw himself into the shadows as a group of Foot ninja rushed past, jumping into the dark alley.

He panted, a hand over his heart as he tried to calm down the pounding beneath his plastron, before smiling smugly in the dark.

"Who's the ninja? I'm the ninja!" he cheered under his breath, when a small sound to his right caught his attention.

Curious, he tip-toed towards the bedside lamp next to a cot, barely stepping into the golden glow to find a baby staring at him and possibly into his soul.

Then, with dimpled cheeks and drool all over his chin, the baby smiled a wide, toothless grin at Mike, flailing his little chubby hands at him as a string of gurgled words that made no sense at all poured from his mouth.

"Awwww!" was the only thing Mikey squealed for the next few minutes until he heard a tap on the window.

The ninja paused, before hesitantly turning to walk away when the baby started to make even more noise, though now his eyes looked watery and his lips were in a pout. The baby began to cry, wailing and grabbing at the air. Mikey was there in an instant, scooping him up into his arms and swaying from side to side gently, quietly shushing the crying child with _"Shh, don't cry, Mike's here, shh."_ The baby quieted down as the turtle pushed a big, green finger into his own tiny hands, staring at it with big, brown eyes before putting it into his mouth.

Mikey swallowed back another squeal when another tap reached his ears. Gingerly, he laid the baby back into the cot, waving a giraffe doll around before placing it on his tummy, whispering, "Mikey's gotta go now, 'kay? Time to make sleepies!"

Eyes still on the baby, who began to play around with the doll, he reluctantly walked backwards until he was next to the window and slid it open slowly. With a last glance, he climbed out the room and came face-to-face with Raph, a huge smile across his face that almost hurt his cheeks.

Raph scowled. "The hell you're so happy about? They almost got your shell, dumbass!"

Still beaming, Mikey reached up to pinch his brother's cheek before jumping into the alley below, yelling "Nothing!"


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: my sense of humor sucks.

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_685. Laughing all of a sudden because you remembered something funny_

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When Mikey's sudden laughter broke the peaceful silence in the lair, two heads snapped in his direction, completely confused and almost worried. Raphael was the only one who wisely chose to pay his utmost attention to the television, a hand pinching the skin between his eyes.

"Well, he's finally lost it," he muttered, shaking his head.

Leo decided to ignore him. "Mikey?"

The youngest had tears in his eyes by the time he had himself under some control. Still chuckling from time to time, Mike wiped at his eyes. "Okay, okay, something just hit me –"

"My fist will, if this is gonna be stupid –"

"Remember when Master Splinter made us do over a hundred push-ups that one time?"

A moment passed before Leo started laughing loud and hard; it had Mikey bending over in tears too. For the sake of Donnie and Raph though, who both looked confused, Mike took a few deep breaths before continuing, "We – jesus, _hahahaha!_ – Raph l-looked up in the middle of a push-up and- and Klunk was suddenly _there_ in front of his face and he screamed _so goddamn loud_, even Sp- Splinter got shocked and – _hahahahaha!_"

Don broke out laughing just as loudly as the other two, his hand on his stomach as he struggled to breathe. Raph just sat there, his face as red as his mask, mouth open wide.

"You- oh my god, you should've –" Don choked for a while, "your face! It was _priceless_ –" He fell out of his chair, still chortling his heart out. Even Leo was on his side on the couch, tears in his eyes.

Raph got up with a pillow in a hand, his cheeks flaming brightly. "I'm gonna shove this down your _throat_, ya lil' shit!"

In a second he was over his brother, trying to smother him with the pillow but the youngest was still laughing hard at the memory, barely trying to fight off the attack.

They were still laughing half an hour later.


	3. Chapter 3

_720. When a person doesn't let go from a hug even after you do_

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Donatello had taken merely three steps from his lab the second his door slid open, when a flash of green and orange materialized seemingly from thin air and pounced right on him. Slightly dazed and feeling a little lost – he had been cooped up in his lab for long hours, after all – the genius blinked a few times before realizing that the warm, green thing clinging on to him like a lifeline was, in fact, his youngest brother.

Don reached up to pat Mikey's carapace awkwardly. "Uh, Mikey?"

"I haven't seen you all day, Donnie-boy," came the muffled reply; Mike had his face buried in Don's neck. "Kinda missed you."

Something inside him shattered for a moment as Don froze for a full minute, before he wrapped his arms around his brother just as tightly as Mikey had. The soft loneliness and hint of worry in the almost childlike voice sent little warning signals off in his brain; perhaps he'd been out of the picture for a little too long this time.

"I missed you too, Mike," he sighed, guilt swallowing his insides. He promised silently to start taking small breaks between hours, for his family's sake.

After a while, Don started to pull away, but Mikey held fast and if possible, hugged him even tighter. Mouth twitching, Donnie tugged at the arms locking him in place, and sighed when his brother didn't budge even the slightest inch.

He tapped the back of Mikey's head. "Mikey –"

"No."

He sighed again, trying his level best not to smile.

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I like reviews?


	4. Chapter 4

_86. Finally getting a joke_

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When Leonardo sat down at the kitchen table to enjoy a cup of tea, he certainly did not expect to find a Michelangelo in the seat in front of him, when it had been empty just a second ago. Leo narrowed his eyes an inch at his brother – who was smiling that big, cheeky grin of his – over the rim of his cup, watching the prankster warily.

"Good afternoon, Mikey," the eldest started slowly, wondering if he made the right choice of even opening his mouth.

Mike nodded. "Hey, bro'."

They sat in silence for a while, staring holes into each other's eyes when the younger of the two said, "I gotta tell you something."

Leo heard alarms going off in his head. "What?"

"I saw something about up-sexy on the television last night and, well..."

Puzzled, Leo frowned. "What's up-sexy?"

Then Mikey started grinning madly again, leaning forward to heavily rest a hand on his brother's shoulder and said, "I'm good. Thanks very much!" and then was up and gone in a blur.

Leo sat there for a moment, still confused as ever, and decided to just let it drop; his youngest brother was weird, anyway. He gave up trying to figure out how his mind worked years ago.

So the blue-banded turtle carried on with his day as usual – training, meditate, spend some time with his family. It was when night came and he was in his room, on his bed and waiting to drift off to sleep, when it finally hit him like a sack of bricks in the face, his eyes snapping open to stare at the ceiling, nonplussed.

"Oh my _god_," he whispered, shaking his head even as he smiled. "I'm going to kill him."

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Either the joke works better when it happens in real life, or I just seriously have a bad sense of humor. You can blame my friend for this chapter (and if it's good, thank her I guess.) If you don't get it yet – though I make things obvious, I know – _let it sink in_. It'll come to you eventually. Like Leo. And me.

So yeah, I realized that so far Mike is in all of the chapters. It's really not that the 'drabbles' are circling around him; whenever an idea comes to mind, he's just there somewhere. Just wanted to clarify! I'll try my best to feature the others.

Thank you for the reviews, keeps me going! :D


	5. Chapter 5

_406. When everyone in the car starts singing along to the song that's playing_

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As Raph drove on down the snowy, rocky road, the rest of his brothers and Casey fooled around in the back of the Battleshell, trying to pass the two-hour drive to the farmhouse with lame jokes and old stories. April had insisted that they all deserved a good break that winter, and after some persuading on her part, they'd decided that it was a good idea. Master Splinter and April had gone to the farmhouse first to clean the place up a little, since the guys were still bickering over snacks when they were ready to leave.

Raph grumbled as he steered the van away from a pothole, and reached out to turn on the radio in the dashboard. The second he did, he instantly regretted it.

"Shit!" He scrambled to change the station when a green hand quickly grabbed at his wrist. He glared up at Mikey, who was grinning madly. "Mikey, ya better _not_ –"

"_I see you driving 'round town with the girl I love, and I'm like, forget you! Oo oo ooh!"_

Raph struggled to avoid punching his brother as he turned back to the road.

"_I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough, and I'm like –_"

"FORGET YOU!" Casey yelled beside Mike.

"_And forget her too!_" Donnie sang from the back.

His brow twitched as Raph considered the situation. As annoyed as he was, with the potholes and the cold and his family's bad singing, he couldn't help but smile just a little.

"_Said, if I was richer, I'd still be with ya!_"

_Well_, he thought, _at least Leo still had some sense left –_

"_Ha, now ain't that some shh?"_

He couldn't help the bark of laughter escaping his throat.

Donnie was merrily dancing with Casey. "_And although there's pain in my chest, I still wish you the best, with a _–"

Ah, to hell with it.

"FORGET YOU!" everyone practically yelled, grinning from ear to ear.

"OO OO OOH!"

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_Forget You by Cee Lo Green_

It's a little too long and I don't think I wrote this one well, but I hope it's good enough!

R&R? :')


	6. Chapter 6

_302. A hug when you need one most_

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He hasn't seen his older brother in such a disturbingly familiar manner in a long while. From where he stands, leaning against the doorframe to the dojo, Raphael watches the blue-banded turtle on the couch, hunching over his emerald-skinned right arm, resting in his lap. He watches as Leonardo stares blankly at the stitches criss-crossing his skin, watches as hundreds of emotions fight to be expressed behind his brown eyes. He watches as his brother slowly crumble to pieces inside.

He hates seeing Leo like that. Leo's supposed to be the Fearless Leader. He tries his damn best to keep his family safe, and picks everyone back up when they're all on their knees.

But the one thing he could never do enough is to forgive himself when things go wrong. He hasn't done it in a while, but he always sits on the couch and stares at nothing and thinks when it happens.

Raph bets that his brother is kicking himself over inside, thinking about Mikey getting his own set of stitches in the infirmary of Don's lab. It wasn't Leo's fault at all; hell, Leo wasn't even there. They had split into pairs to patrol the city and Mike was just being a cocky turtle with the PD's.

But Leo's being Leo, taking the blame and all as usual. So Raph decides that he's gotten tired of seeing his big brother that way and walks over to the couch resolutely, before heaving his bulk down next to Leo.

Leo turns to him with tired eyes, but talks gently. "Raph, you should be –"

He leaves the sentence hanging as strong arms pull him into a tight embrace. He freezes, but it takes him only a second before he returns back the gesture just as fiercely. Leo feels his muscles relax a little and the slight numbness of his arm easing off. He buries his face into Raph's neck.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, bro'. You're a good leader."

Then he feels something lift off his shoulders, feels his headache receding and eyes stinging. He holds onto Raph like a lifeline, not saying anything and knowing that Raph understands; Leo's never been good with words. He squeezes his brother tightly.

Then Raph lets go, getting to his feet and looks away – he still doesn't like showing his soft side to his family. He jabs a thumb towards the kitchen. "Let's go grab some dinner."

Leo nods and smiles, a small one, but it's sincere. Their eyes meet, and Raph spots the words behind those brown eyes. _Thank you._

He snorts with gruff affection. "Anytime," he says, and walks first.

He doesn't let Leo see his smile.

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Okay, this is totally not a drabble. I'll try to keep the chapters this long at most.

And yes, I am an ass. I'm so sorry; these past three weeks have been rough. Hope yall understand.

R&R!


	7. Chapter 7

_481. A smile from someone who doesn't do it often_

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"Do I reaaally have to?"

"Yes, Mikey. You have to."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you very sure?"

"Yes, _very_ sure."

"Are you very _veeery_ sure?

"Mikey."

"Are you- ow! Okay! Okay, I'll do it!"

Mikey grumbled under his breath as he settled himself into place, positioning himself in the stance of the kata Master Splinter had them run through that morning – the very _complicated_ kata he had so gleefully chosen to miss by spending two hours in the bathroom – and wondered why he ever thought that he could get away with it. The young turtle threw a half-hearted glare at his older brother, then did a double take with raised eye ridges.

Leo was shaking his head slightly to himself and chuckling under his breath, a smile gracing his features as he looked over Mikey's stance. Mikey barely registered the light tap on his elbow, shifting his arm a little higher absentmindedly as he cocked his head at his brother.

This, of course, didn't go by unnoticed. "Mikey, chin up –"

"Y'know, Leo, I don't think I've ever said it before," the younger one started, "but you have a nice smile."

Leo blinked, feeling a faint rush of heat spreading across his cheeks for a small moment before the corner of his mouth twitched.

"You gotta smile more often, bro'!" Mikey's face lit up, his smile all pink gums and pearly white teeth. "A lil' more like this, though!"

That earned him a laugh from his brother, and Mikey decided that he'd do anything to get a smile out of his reserved older brother; smiles over frowns any day.

Figuring he should take a shot in the midst of the brotherly moment, Mikey did his best puppy eyes. "Does this mean I can –"

"No."

Mikey sighed and got back to working into his kata, but since he was grinning and Leo was still smiling, he was perfectly fine with it.

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Happy Chinese New Year to all who celebrate it!

as always, R&R greatly appreciated :)


	8. Chapter 8

_57. Winning a bet_

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Michelangelo and Raphael were seated on the couch, staring holes into the TV screen where _something_ – "What the hell?" "Dude, why are we watching _this_?" – was flashing before their eyes, when the eldest of the brothers landed lightly on his feet behind them. He stood there, trying to figure out exactly what his siblings were watching, before shaking his head and turning for the kitchen, murmuring something along the lines of "so wrong" and "brain-dead".

From where they sat, the two turtles could hear the quiet shuffling around in the kitchen. A minute passed, then two, then four minutes, and seven. Mikey turned an inch to raise an eye ridge at Raph, who coughed into his fist, trying not to scowl.

Another five minutes later, Leo walked out and didn't bother to drop by the two again. They saw the slight shake of his head and heard the famous I-Give-Up sigh, before he leaped up to the second level to his room.

Two minutes passed, and then Mikey got up and headed for the kitchen. Raph heard a small snigger and cursed inwardly, but managed to keep a straight face on when the youngest returned with two cans of Coke and the cookie jar.

He set them down on a table, popped a can open and said, "He had five," before taking a sip.

Raph scowled. "And how do I know it wasn't you?"

"If I ate one, it'd be all over my mouth, bro'. Thought you knew me better!"

Raph continued to scowl. No longer delaying the inevitable, Mikey stuck his hand out at him and wiggled his fingers.

"Five bucks, Raph. I won."

"Fine!" Raphael groaned, slapping the money into his brother's hand, before dragging a hand down his own face. "Since when did Fearless even eat cookies, dammit!"

"Since forever, dude. With milk, too," Mikey grinned, taking a cookie and shoving it into his mouth. "He's frickin' adorable."

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I'm just casually imagining Leo dipping a cookie into a glass of milk and his face when the cookie falls in. Yes, totally not dying a little inside.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, followed, and basically just knowing I exist! :D I love you all.


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